Apple Insider discovered a new Apple Patent recently published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that outlines a location-based docking system that would change the interface and settings of a portable device pending the docks location.

The patent entitled "Location-Based Dock for a Computing Device," could apply to any of Apple's portable devices, from Macbooks to iPhones. While the idea of a device recognizing whether it is a car, at work, or back home and adapting its interface and settings accordingly seems like a useful idea, this patent could just as easily do without the dock.

The added cost of buying docks for every place in your house, would be much easier to offset price wise with a simple retooling of the iPhones settings and utilizing location-based services. If Apple allowed users to designate different grids of functionality via Google Maps or another GPS application, the user could have the device prompt them once passing into the work grid, or the home office grid, and ask if they'd want to change the devices interface and settings accordingly.

Perhaps an even more effective solution would be to make the devices network aware, and adapt the device depending on the wireless network it is connected to. It would take care of being home, at work, and in the car or "wandering" vey easily.

Having my phone automatically connect to my vehicles hands-free system, or switch to my work email and contacts while at the office is an interesting idea, but having to purchase different docks for different uses seems cumbersome and expensive. The idea of adaptive interfaces and settings does follow suit with Apple's ongoing mantra of producing products and services that just work.

Hopefully some of these ideas make it into future versions of iOS, without the necessary purchase of multiple docking stations.

MyProfiles already does location based iPhone settings, WiFi or GPS as well as time based settings - why Apple still can't be arsed bothering adding this into iOS is beyond me - oh no I remember now they need to keep some "new" features to present in iOS6, iOS7 and iOS8 - in our new latest firmware look out for an audible low battery warning! (that i have on a six year old nokia - monochrome 1" screen) coming to iOS9 sometime in 2015.